Vette(s):1972 mille miglia red corvette convertible. This is a car currently under restoration.
The pic above is of me and my Ph.D. candidate daughter. She, not my Vette, is my pride and joy. Smile...

Joined: 5/29/2013
Posts: 159

Hi, gang:

I retired three weeks ago now I have time to crawl under the car and give myself an excuse to go see my chiropractor more often.

I have the car in the shop to have the A-Arms powder coated, the ball joints replaced and the control arm bushings replaced too. Yes, I was too chicken to do the ball joints because I'm uncomfortable removing the coil springs. I just don't want my retirement to end early because a wayward spring smacks me in the head. Though honestly I've done many more complicated things than change these parts. Of course, the original ball joints are on the car... so some other poor slob gets to remove the rivets!

I've decided this car is not going to be a NCRS car. But I'll keep her as original looking as I can without being anal retentive about it. My philosophy? Treat her as I would have if I drove her and fixed her in the 70's. That means I'm not concerned about putting in ball joints with bolts rather than rivets. And the tranny case that had to be replaced because Bubba took a chisel to her to remove the shifter arm doesn't bother me either. Still... she looks like a very fine example of a '72 Corvette. Interior is original looking. Paint is Mille Miglia Red. Tires... though... are Cooper Cobras. Sigh...

Anyway. When preparing to take the car to the shop yesterday I decided to install new brake calipers (actually Chevy calipers that weren't used until 1973 or late '72). And I installed SS trailing arm brake lines. While I was at it, I painted the calipers satin black as were the originals and I cleaned and painted the undercarriage from the front part of the wheel well back to the rear end of the car. It's not perfect. I started this cleaning and painting job only a week ago. I worked many MANY hours and couldn't believe the amount of dirt and grease I had to remove. So not everything is perfectly restored, but I did as much as I could in only one week.

So... for your viewing pleasure... here are the before and after pics. I think that you'll agree that the transformation is pretty stunning if only partly done.

Vette(s):1972 mille miglia red corvette convertible. This is a car currently under restoration.
The pic above is of me and my Ph.D. candidate daughter. She, not my Vette, is my pride and joy. Smile...

Joined: 5/29/2013
Posts: 159

Case75 said:
Nice work! And it only took a week?! Wow!

Yes, just a week. But I still have to go from the differential forward. Then I'll go over it again to get better detail and hit the hidden and harder to reach places. But now a casual observer would think she looks pretty new.

Nice work on the cleanup detail. I'm retired too and have spent lots of hours cleaning, scraping, and painting. I bought my '73 as a project car and it's been just that. It seems that once I start to work on something on this car, it always leads to other things. It's been fun!

Vette(s):1972 mille miglia red corvette convertible. This is a car currently under restoration.
The pic above is of me and my Ph.D. candidate daughter. She, not my Vette, is my pride and joy. Smile...

Joined: 5/29/2013
Posts: 159

So true, John. When this latest saga started, I just wanted the ball joints and control arm bushings replaced. I didn't feel comfortable doing the ball joints so I farmed them out.

Now the list and price tag grew. A lot!
All new U-Joints. All bushings replaced. Right wheel bearings being replaced.

In the process of replacing the wheel bearings things went haywire. The mechanic has a tool used to press out the bearings in place. The bearings must have ceased since the bearings won't come out and the tool broke in the process. AND the caliper mount was bent. So I will probably be stuck buying a bearing assembly.

My gut told me to use a local shop that does this a lot and uses a big hydraulic press. But no...I let my friend do the job. Big mistake!

So what started out as a $600 job will probably hit $3,000. At least he let me clean and paint the undercarriage while it was on his lift!

dbarnesid said: In the process of replacing the wheel bearings things went haywire. The mechanic has a tool used to press out the bearings in place. The bearings must have ceased since the bearings won't come out and the tool broke in the process. AND the caliper mount was bent. So I will probably be stuck buying a bearing assembly.

OUCH! Was it a "tool" like this one, Dave?

While I've never used one, the design is prone to damaging the hub/carrier if the bearings are tight on the spindle. I would rather take the thing off the car and use a press. A hunnert years ago, the first rear bearing job I ever did on one of these things almost kilt me. I spent the better part of a day gettin that dang thing apart....with NO special tools, or press. Just a BIG hammer, and a LOT of heat(and not just a few choice werds of encouragement)! Never again....off she comes for me.

Vette(s):1972 mille miglia red corvette convertible. This is a car currently under restoration.
The pic above is of me and my Ph.D. candidate daughter. She, not my Vette, is my pride and joy. Smile...

Joined: 5/29/2013
Posts: 159

Yup...that's the tool. I learned my lesson the hard way (like most lessons). Next time I either send it in to be rebuilt or I just take it to my local driveline guy and let him do it.
A few things I will never try.
1) Rebuild a tranny
2) rebuild an engine
3) paint my car (unless I have a partner who knows what he's doing
4) service the rear wheel bearings.
Just about all else is fair game.
My reconditioned A-Arms. Not bad!

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